The base they’re working on is so shallow that I can’t say for sure whether it’d be a good game if they did everything I asked for. In the end, all I can say is maybe make sure you’ve got more of a game before you throw it out onto the store.
At its core, it has a plot they seem to be trying to do something original with, and a combat system that makes blocking more engaging. They could have done so much more, but at the end of the day I cannot recommend getting this.
I know some people put a lot of work into this and they may even be proud of it, but the simple truth of the matter is I did not have fun. I didn’t even feel the satisfaction of overcoming a challenge.
I’ll be honest, this doesn’t feel like something that should have been released yet. It feels more like an early build of a game still in development. The visuals need some polish, combat needs larger hit detection for melee and dodging…it really needs a lot more love.
Unfortunately in the end I just can’t recommend this. It’s beautiful, and with a bit more polish I would call it a fine way to experience a classic tale. As it stands at the moment, though, the bugs are an active detriment and the actual gameplay, the stuff that differentiates this from just reading a book or watching a movie, feel like they detract from the story more than add to it.
A psychological thriller with stealth seemed right up my alley, which made it all the more disappointing that it wound up primarily a mediocre cover-based shooter. But hey, my achievement progress for the game is at 69%, and it’s going to stay that way. Nice.
At the end of the day, Original Journey takes a solid concept of a shooter with a unique art style that sends you through progressively harder gauntlets with the gamble to proceed or head back to the start and bank your earnings, and mars it with a number of poor design decisions.
...this is the first to commit the most cardinal sin of gaming: I was bored to tears. The game several hours in is fundamentally the same as the game five minutes in, and there’s not even the spectacle of new discovery to entice me onward.
It’s clear [Super Sexy Software] tried. I love the art direction, they tried to pull off something more original towards the end, and the little optional things you can interact with are fun and whimsical. I’d love to see where they go in the future, but I cannot deny that this is a fairly flawed title.
On the whole, this game is a case study for how the small details truly make the game. It hits all the broad strokes well, and it has a solid foundation. With more polish, I would genuinely call this a good game. Unfortunately, as it is, it just comes across as a jumbled mess that slingshots between unfair and trivial, without enough fluff to make up for it.
It’s clear that not enough love was given to Fear Effect Sedna. The lack of polish shows all over the place, and little flaws that could have been ironed out with more testing cripple the experience. The things it does well are rendered disappointing by the frustrating mess one needs to slog through to reach them.
The storytelling is lackluster and it manages to make combat, what should be the core of an action game, into something that toes the line between tedious and unfair.
Really, if I had to boil down my issues to one thing, it’s that the developers need to understand how to add content to a game. Games are all about what we as players choose to do, and for extra content to actually mean anything it should ask me to make different choices. For every dating minigame I’m making the same choices every other time that minigame shows up, for every frame of bowling I am making the same choices as every frame before it. All the pretty visuals don’t change that it is the same minute or so of content repeated over and over.
It feels like someone put a lot of heart into Habroxia 2, but heart only goes so far. It’s a decent enough attempt at a side-scrolling shooter, but lacks the polish I’d expect from a game these days. A bit more balance considerations, some more context for why you’re fighting the things you are, and some longer music tracks, and it would be an alright retro throwback. As it is, it’s a bit mediocre.
It’s rare that I say this, but this video game probably should have been a movie instead. Honestly that’s the biggest thing I felt during this whole experience, between the live action stars, the way the cutscenes are shot and paced, the way the gameplay felt almost like an afterthought, it truly feels like they were basically trying to make a movie but decided it must be a game instead. Now, that’s not to say there’s nothing to enjoy, far from it! I really enjoyed the writing and performances, but it likely says something that I had a lot more fun just rushing through on a second playthrough on easy to see the story differences than I did on my initial go on normal where I actually had to explore.
That’s not to say there’s nothing good here, however. It’s a solid foundation, but where other games would strive to build something on that foundation, Bleak Sword DX unfortunately just leaves it as a slab of concrete.
I want to like this game, I really do. When it works, it works really well. The core gameplay loop is satisfying, the two ideas mesh believably, and figuring out how best to manage the species on a given level is like a fun little puzzle. Actually reaching later planets makes me feel like Sisyphus rolling a boulder up a hill, with the content I’m repeating feeling no different than it did an hour ago when I started my last run.
The gameplay itself is enjoyable, so if the repetition doesn’t bother you, you’ll probably enjoy it. If it does, you’ll probably just have a few fun hours and that’s about it.
Bahnsen Knights is something I’ve said I’ve wanted, I just wish it did it better. Short and cheap games seem like the ultimate cure for folks burned out by the current gaming landscape… but a single hour is perhaps too short, even most folks I know who appreciate shorter games would probably feel cheated, and that hour could definitely do with some improvements. They definitely tried and succeeded at having a unique and memorable voice, but this also means wearing its flaws on its sleeve. There’s some great scenes, and the aesthetics are absolutely on point, but at the end of the day I simply can’t find myself recommending this to anyone except those who’d look at the trailer and immediately know it’s their jam.
I came away from this with the impression that I really didn’t miss out on much. Turok 3 is a game that lost its identity, and it now comes as no surprise that the next game was a reboot where Turok was changed into a space marine. In trying so hard to be like the other big name franchises, it became little more than another copy and sadly faded into obscurity. That all said, it’s only just mediocre at its worst, and you still get to shoot grenades at dinosaurs, so at least it has that going for it.